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More Than Just Offensive Accents in Star Wars: Poe Dameron 21

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

There are few aliens in the Star Wars universe who are hated as much by fans as the Neimoidians. True, Jar-Jar Binks makes the all of the Gungans disagreeable to a certain extent, but the Neimoidians seem especially hated. Maybe that has to do with the fact that they instigated much of the political unrest that caused the Clone Wars, or maybe it’s because George Lucas made the highly questionable decision to give them all accents that border on the offensive, given that they sound like a caricatures of a Japanese accent, but the Neimoidians have always been disliked by fans. While they aren’t necessarily likable in Poe Dameron 21, at least we get to see that there’s more to them than just a silly accent.

In a bid to rescue Lor San Tekka from the clutches of the Neimoidians, Princess Leia has hatched a plot to infiltrate their ranks by pretending to be a potential suitor for their wares. As it turns out, the wares that Neimoidians are peddling are ultra secure safes and storage. Effectively, they are the goblins that run Gringotts, only they use technology instead of magic.

While this occupation of theirs isn’t all that endearing, it at least goes a long ways to establishing a culture for the Neimoidians that had been absent before. Charles Soule isn’t working with a lot of material here, and it’s true that they are still being characterized as evil and petty, but it’s a welcoming turn to see them portrayed as something other than an offensive caricature. More, Soule intimates that they have a complex system of honor and history, as they still consider Leia a princess simply because at one time she was called that. It suggests that to the Neimoidians, time isn’t so linear as it is for humans.

The conversation doesn’t stop there. What do you wanna talk about from this issue?